Heraclitus
on the Logos [or
what nature tells us about itself, if we pay attention] and What
Humans Can Learn from Nature

by
Gordon L. Ziniewicz

1. The universe was not created by God or gods, but is eternal.

2. Nature is a cycle of lighting up (firing up) and going
out.

3. Time is a circle of creation and destruction of existing
things; time is an innocent child at play. Destruction is not
bad, but an essential part of the whole process.

4. Nature is a unity of diverse and opposing forces, a harmony
of opposites.

5. Things constantly change in accordance with unchanging
principle or law (the logos or rational order of things).

6. What makes things happen is fire.

7. Things revert to their opposites (day/night, winter/summer).

8. Harmony is the result of the appropriate tension of opposing
forces.

9. Strife (within limits) is a good thing. Conflict is necessary
for life. Examples: (1) Musical harmony requires competing tones.
(2) Continuance of life requires opposite sexes. (3) Experience
of pleasure requires experience of pain, such as in health and
sickness, satiety and hunger, rest and weariness. (4) Right (just)
would make no sense without wrong (unjust).

10. From the divine standpoint (nature), there is no good
or bad, just or unjust.

11. God is the whole of nature, including the intelligence
that steers the course of events. God is all opposites and the
unity that brings them together.

12. Divine intelligence steers the universe, as lightning
flashes through a cloud. Nature never goes too far, but steers
a moderate course between extremes. The sun never goes out of
control.

13. Human intelligence should awaken to the meaning/principles/rational
order revealed in nature. Human beings should interpret events
they experience in the light of these natural principles (logos).

14. Human intelligence should steer human bodies with self-control
and moderation. Examples of human excess are anger and arrogance
(fire out of control).

15. Human beings should seek the common (available to all)
knowledge of things as they really are and avoid the idiosyncrasies
of "private opinion."

Please note: These
philosophical commentaries, though still in process, are the
intellectual property of Gordon L. Ziniewicz. They may be
downloaded and freely distributed in electronic form only,
provided no alterations are made to the original text. One
print copy may be made for personal use, but further reproduction
and distribution of printed copies are prohibited without
the permission of the author.